


Juxtaposition

by Rhaemaya



Category: Doom (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Feels, Gen, Humor, Picks up at end of Doom 2016, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Traumatic Backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:35:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24531658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhaemaya/pseuds/Rhaemaya
Summary: Synthadroid X-01: an alien android built for war is not having the best of luck. Fighting a sentient virus alongside humanity in a war that is quickly branching outward has left her desperate for a solution. Unfortunately for her, while searching sterile planets for a cure, she happens across a human far far away from home. Synth finds herself in yet another war in an attempt to find answers for her own. Luckily for her, the multiverse awaits as she partners up with a man who calls himself ‘The Doom Slayer.’
Comments: 19
Kudos: 18





	1. The Duo

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, Rhaemaya here. Finally getting out my crack fan-fic about my OC helping the Doom Slayer and hoy boi is it going to be a fun ride. I hope you all sit back and have as much fun as I did writing.

It was finally Slayer’s day. 

The kinda day where you get off a deserted planet you had been sent against your will by a reprobate cyborg. A world, mind you, that was nothing but rocks in sundry shapes and sizes. So many rocks, in fact, that Slayer feared if he saw one more boulder that he would lose his mind. Not that he hadn’t already decimated the population by now. It was at least an appropriate flat land to rock ratio. 

Yes, today was a very blessed day. The bestest of days. He would have to mark it down on a calendar to celebrate. Perhaps he would carve it into Hayden’s metallic hide when he finally made his way back to Mars. For you see, salvation was at hand. Upon seeing the spaceship flying in the distance, Slayer nearly shed a tear. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in years. A little slice of luck coming in with his name written on it. He had lost so much being sent across the rift, the only thing he had with him was the poor beat up combat shotgun with only two bullets.

Shouldn’t he have had more? Well, you see… he had ‘used’ ten shots on the indestructible, yet unpowered, portal. Slayer was a man who followed his emotions and by God he was going to shoot back in hopes that he hit that metal bastard. Did it feel good at the time? Yes, yes it did. Did he regret it? No, not at all. 

He only lamented one thing in his life and the demons were still reaping their reward from it.

Slayer had set out, moving across the sandy terrain like a beetle scurrying across the hot desert. Each step was a type of dance as he skirted around the three blazing suns above him. The sweltering heat usually kept him underground till nightfall when he would explore, but time was of the essence and he wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. Ducking behind a rock, he took a breather in the shade: shaking his head as the sweat rolled down his face. Hissing to himself, Slayer stood once more and bolted.

The ship had left a contrail that marked the languid orange sky with a glaring white mark, standing so stark against its background that it was like a child painting with a limited color palette. Panting as he moved, Slayer counted in his head the distance once again, running the math in an attempt to divert his mind from the heat. He had lasted in Hell well enough, but then there were demons to kill and less time to think about how hot it was and hoy boi was it hot. 

Calculating once, twice, and a third time left him with a near giddy state. Another mile or two and he would be on his way out of here, kissing this sorry-ass planet goodbye. Jumping over a ravine, he rolled as soon as he hit the ground. Using the momentum to push forward, Slayer shot back up and continued at his dead run without skipping a beat. The ground was eaten up as he rushed to freedom, a long line of even footprints left behind for several dozen miles, marks which would not disappear for years to come. 

A treasure map with an already taken treasure. 

Climbing up a ridge, his gauntlets hissed as they touched the hot earth, causing him to grunt in annoyance. Pulling up, Slayer clambered downward, finding himself sliding down into a valley. In the distance sat victory, nestled in the shadow of the gorge like a kitten to its mother. Skidding to a halt at the bottom of the slope, Slayer drew against a nearby rock and peered around it. The spaceship was unboarded, its stomach open with a ramp lowered down. Several boxes lay scattered about, some unpacked and spewing gadgets and wires like a slain beast.  
Slayer hesitated as he realized how strange the ship was built, appearing far more advanced than any UAC or Sentinel spacecraft he’d ever seen before. With a sleek build and arrow-like form, it showcased power yet elegance all at once. His stomach prickled as a smidge of worry flitted by. Could he drive it? Fuck it, even if I don’t know, how hard could it be? 

With a last look around for any of the occupants, Slayer bolted in with a burst of energy, dashing inside before anyone or anything noticed him. The spaceship was smaller than he would have liked, causing him to bend over slightly. What was worse was the copious amount of supplies that stuffed the thing like a pinata. It left a twinge of claustrophobia, something easily overlooked but irksome should he have to fight. Scooting past the tools, hanging wires, and tubes, Slayer entered the cockpit. Sitting in the small chair, he stiffened as it spun around and pulled him toward the instrument panel. He sucked in a breath as the bottom of his stomach gave way. Before him stood a dizzying array of buttons and levers along with what appeared to be some sort of stick shift.

Who the hell put a stick shift in a spaceship? What was this? A millennial anti-theft car?

Shit. He quickly began to push buttons in desperation, fat fingering everything with the ease of an elephant stepping on something. Lights flashed, buttons indented and refused to come back out, even a set of wipers came down and cleaned off the observation window as he continued his haphazardly dance. Slayer pulled back in dead silence, dumbfounded as he realized: I can’t drive this thing.

This left only one option. He needed to find the owner’s of said spaceship and corral them into driving the hunk of shit. 

Standing up, Slayer shrugged his shoulders and ‘lightly’ kicked the wall, letting loose some stress. Leaving the ship Slayer angrily stomped his feet as he began to look around for signs of where the pilot had gone. The ship obviously could only hold a couple of people given its state of having every open inch packed to the brim.

It took him a couple of minutes before finding a small set of footprints leading the opposite direction in which he had approached. Following them, Slayer noticed several areas where the ground had freshly removed chunks from it. Then there were apparatuses embedded in the ground, long blinking poles that beeped at various intervals. Out of curiosity, he plucked one out and flipped it over. The bottom was a small drill with octopus-like tendrils that wiggled about and spewed an oil-like substance.

Tossing the device aside, Slayer mused to himself about who had been sent here. Obviously, it was not a military squad, they would’ve brought much more if they planned on facing him. Much, much more. Perhaps a science team? Highly unlikely as even that would require more than one person. 

Then who? 

Stepping past a large slab of upturned stone, Slayer finally spotted his target. They were kneeling down poking at a shrub shaped rock. As he drew closer still, Slayer realized that it was not a person, but a machine.

Immediately his anger flared. The dirty fucking bastard! Charging forward, Slayer slung his shotgun out and loaded it with his last two shots. Closing the distance within seconds, he loomed over the small figure like a mountain, casting his shadow across them like the reaper's own cloak. Reaching down, Slayer grabbed Hayden’s shoulder and flipped him over to face him.

Only, it wasn’t Hayden.

A female scream rang out.

Shit. 

\-----------------------------------------------

It was not Synth’s day.

Humanity was on the brink of extinction as an endless war between everyone and the sentient virus Demoxica had left the Galaxy reeling. The spread of its reach had already clasped beyond Earth while they had their eyes fixated on ‘holding the post.’ Now it roamed unchecked and pervaded everything it touched. So many had gone silent that dead spaces now lingered in once inhabited areas. It left a growing pit of worry and anxiety in the android, right where something had already begun to grow as well.

Today was but another day amongst many others. The entire morning had been: drawling, laborious, and frankly arduous task of begging for permission to leave home base again. Synth’s creators, an alien race of jellyfish people known as T'syukios, had been adamant on her not leaving till they finished her new body. They couldn’t risk their ‘savior’ dying from a freak accident, not while their newly born rebellion had just started.

But she had managed to convince Z’baun to let her scope some planets in hopes of a cure for the virus, using everything in her hold to sway her ‘father.’ When he caved, pitying his trapped ‘child’, he had only offered her a tiny ship packed as tight as a sardine. Synth had left with a quiet thanks and made for Alpha Delaritos three. She had seen the reports that the once healthy planet had shed its organic life like changing sweatshirts and gained two suns. It was a mystery that Synth couldn’t resist and a safe enough place that her creators would let her roam. She had prayed deep down that this would further both of her research projects and bring answers she was desperate for.

The promise that nothing would happen to her on an uninhabited planet proved to be a high claim… For there she was, being assaulted by a goliath of a man who charged at her like a bull, brandishing his shotgun like a baton and flipped her over like a well done pancake. Synth had screamed so loud that she almost broke her vocal box and nearly hard rebooted. Earth was a million, million lightyears away and hadn’t even finished making their prototype spaceships when she had left. 

So how was a human this far away from home? 

An excellent question that jumped into one ear and ran out the other as she continued to scream. The man flinched and narrowed his eyes. Kicking her hard in the gut, he planted the gun right into her mouth. Slowly he lifted a finger up to his helmet and made the gesture to be quiet. Synth promptly shut up and quivered as he stood over her. Leaning down, the man looked her over silently. Whatever he was trying to find, he must not have found as he pulled back and slowly took the shotgun out of her mouth.

Shivering in fear, Synth watched in horror as the man grabbed her by the leg and began to drag her away. “Whoa! WHOA!” she screeched. Kicking back in a knee jerk reaction, she instantly regretted it when he turned and stared down at her with the most spiteful leer she’d ever seen in her life. Yipping in pain, she covered her face and prepared for the stranger to shoot at her.

After a few tense moments, he began to haul her again, taking her back to the ship with great hasty strides. Synth could only stare in dread and rabid curiosity. The man was clad in a type of armor she’d never seen before. A deep leaf green power suit that, from her scans, ran on a type of unknown red energy. Incredibly broken and frayed at the edges, the thing had seen better days, the man inside included. While he showed no extensive signs of dehydration or starvation, she could tell that he was suffering immense heat stroke. The fact that he was standing was a miracle, let alone moving.

But then, right before her eyes, something strange happened. As Synth was scanning the man, the heatstroke went away. Just utterly cured itself within a few seconds, as if it was never there to begin with. If she hadn’t scrambled to record the data, she would have never noticed in the first place. This only drew further fear out of her. How was it possible that he could do that? She scanned again and again trying to tell herself that it was just an error in the codes, but the answer only repeated itself as he trudged along in the sweltering heat of the three suns. 

He was something more than human. Something vastly stronger and highly adaptable. An intense rush of manufactured adrenaline filled Synth as the terrible thoughts drew to horrible conclusions. If he were infected….. this far out from Earth, then that would mean….

The war had reached far past what they had once thought.

Synth nearly let out a whimper until her scans came back negative of any inclination to being infected. The source of his change was not the virus Demoxica but a golden substance fused directly into him upon a genetic level, flaring to life momentarily whenever his health declined. It worked hard to keep him alive, destroying unhealthy cells and repairing any damage done so fast that it was nigh instantaneous. Intrigue replaced horror, fascination over despondence. Synth’s natural disposition of wanting to know more drew out so many questions that she nearly caused another hard crash.

As she picked her way through the questions, trying to narrow down to something more manageable, the man continued to drag her like a sack of potatoes. “Who are you?” She finally asked, deciding to start with the most basic of them all. Cliche but needed. He didn’t respond, not hesitating or showing any sign of acknowledgment. It dawned upon her: that the man might not understand English. She began to run through several languages based on his DNA: Spanish, French, Italian, and many others. When she hit German, he reacted by flinching slightly.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she asked him once again: “Who are you?” In German. 

Stopping suddenly, the man turned around and kicked her hard. “OW!” Synth screamed out in English; “Jesus man, what the fuck!” He kicked her again and reached down to grab her by the throat. Strangling her slightly, he hefted her up and began to shake her like a rag doll. The poor machine began to quiver like a chihuahua her cassis rattling like a bag of nuts and bolts.

It took several minutes before he was done with his temper tantrum and began to haul her back to the ship once again. Just this time by the throat rather than the foot in an effort to silence her. Synth thought it best not to let him know that strangling her didn’t prevent her from being able to talk. Least he try to remove said voice box.

Once inside the ship, the man angrily set her into the pilot’s chair and pointed at the joystick and then the sky.

‘Fly.’ he mouthed in English.

Synth sat there aghast for a moment before looking at him and sputtering: “Oh so you understood me from the beginning? What the fuck man!”

He gripped the back of her chair with a large fist and mouthed: ‘Fly.’ Again.

The machine stared back at him, her human-like face contorting in mock disgust. This was a prototype model for what her creators were working on and the facial expressions were not fully on par yet.

“No, I am not going to do anything.” Synth snapped, the man hefted his gun and jabbed her with it. “I will not go anywhere until you answer my questions!” again he rammed her, “Go ahead and keep hitting me! I can’t feel pain!” he pumped the gun once, the bullets loading into position. “Threaten me all you want, but I'm going to assume if you wanted off this rock, you would have already left, which means you cant pilot this ship and that you need me to drive it for you!” He bristled at that and bared his teeth at her like a rabid animal. After a tense minute, he lowered the gun and let out an angry harrumph. 

The man set the shotgun on the control panel and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he waited for her questions. “O-kay…. Well, let's start off with the basics? How the hell are you here?” at the word Hell he balled his hands into fists and then opened his mouth to speak. Only for a strangled noise to escape him. He tried again and a third time. Upon the fourth time Synth held up her hand; “Jesus man, you can’t even speak?” He glared at her and jabbed a finger in her direction as if to say: ‘Don’t you dare judge me!’ “Fine! Fine! Look, can you at least write?” glaring still, he slowly nodded. “Okay, good, behind you in the cargo space right where your head is a whiteboard and some dry erase markers. You can use that to- well ya know.”

Turning around, he wrenched the small door open and dug around till he found the small whiteboard and a green marker. Leaning again, he began to scrawl furiously till he flipped the board and let her read a crudely written: ‘I came here through a portal’

“Oh, well if that's all. No seriously, how did you get here?” He jabbed his index finger at the word portal thrice, tapping like an angry teacher with a misbehaving child. “Okay, let's say I do buy that, where did you come from?”

The man quickly wiped the board clean and scribbled again: ‘Mars.’

Synth blinked twice: “Mars?” She puffed with such a force that her chest creaked. “You mean the uninhabited planet by Earth?” The man blinked, looked down at his message in confusion and then looked around at everything around him. “Which, I might add, is in the middle of an epidemic that has nearly wiped out the human race?”

Eyes widening, shakily, he wrote; ‘Where am I?’

“You’re on Alpha Delaritos three. A planet exactly three hundred and ninety-eight million light-years from Earth!” Blinking once more, a look of panic overwrote his anger for a split second. 

‘Shit.’ he mouthed.

“You’re not making sense!” Synth continued, turning in her chair as he started to pace the small area: “You’re acting like you’re not- not……” it dawned upon her then. A planet that suddenly has three suns where only one had existed before. A man millions of light-years away from his homeworld and dressed in an unidentifiable technology. The research she had come to do suddenly flared to life before her. “You’re not from here, are you?” The man slid down till he was sitting on the floor, eyes distant. As the wonderful, yet daunting realization continued to shine upon her, Synth finally asked the question which hung in the air like a death sentence. “You came from another reality…. Didn’t you?”

The man looked at her, shocked, but nodded.

“Fuck.” Synth hissed and fell back into her seat, deflating like a balloon. “Fuck!” Rubbing her temples, the machine began to try and piece everything together.

Three suns, a mysterious man genetically modified and outfitted with a high tech suit lost on a planet not in his own reality. If she had a bingo board for ‘weird things that can happen’ this would surely have gotten her a knick-knack to put up on her shelf. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Synth eyed the man who had fallen utterly still, staring into the distance with a ravenous desperate anger.

It got her thinking.

And that’s one way to say, a hyper self-aware artificial intelligence thinking can get some places. It just takes a hot minute to get going. “Okay, okay. You said you came through a portal right?” The man eyed her but again nodded. “Is it operable?”

He narrowed his eyes at her and gestured as if to say: ‘Would I be here if it was operatable?’ 

“Listen, I’m just trying to help, you wanna go home don’t you?” The man opened his mouth to argue with her, raising a finger for emphasis. Staring he lowered his hand and bobbed his head. “So…. Is this portal still…. Around?” the man gave her a strange look. The heavily guarded suspicion led her to believe he was hiding something or didn’t want something to be found out. “Listen, if anything is left of the portal that sent you here, I may be able to reverse engineer a way home for you.” the man perked up at that. Squaring his shoulders, he eyed her tentatively. The stranger thought deeply for a few minutes, not breaking eye contact with her till he stood once more and then pointed westward from the observation window.

Sighing with relief, Synth turned on the power and began to flick switches. The bay door shut and locked with a loud click as the rest of the ship came to life. Monitors flashed, coordinates blinked and translucent screens which floated in mid-air poured information out like a jackpot spewing coins. The man seemed disorientated by the high tech, watching it with weariness. “Never seen anything like it before?” he shook his head no. “Surprising, considering your suit, that is.” Synth harrumphed to herself and let the seat drag her forward to the piloting position. Shifting the stick shift downward, she pulled up on the controls and the spacecraft rumbled to life, slowly rising from the ground. 

The man watched in intrigue as she turned the ship portside and accelerated. The spaceship moved as smooth as a knife through butter, the ground disappearing beneath them faster than anything he’d seen before. “Sorry, I know she’s a bit slow, but this is all I was allocated for this little trip.” the man blanched as if he was surprised at her words, a twinge of apprehension lighting up behind those angry brown eyes. Gripping the back of her chair, he pointed at the stick shift, jabbing angrily several times at it.

“Hmmm? What’s up?” the man continued to point at it furiously, frowning so massively Synth was surprised he didn’t break his face. “The stick shift? What about it?”

Writing quickly on his whiteboard, he set it in her lap, ‘Why do you have it?’ the word ‘it’ was underlined multiple times.

“It keeps people from stealing the spaceship.” Synth said matter-of-factly.

The man let out a long groan and walked out of the room, throwing his hands into the air.

It was going to be a long day.

\--------------------------------------

The machine, most likely watching from surveillance cameras, had found him rummaging through her supplies and asked if he was hungry. Upon nodding vigorously, she guided him to a ‘synthesizer’ at the back end of the ship. It could produce food and water at the push of a button. Luckily for him, the ship had oxygen tanks on it and the robot made it nice and cozy for him to take off his helmet. Needless to say, he had hounded down several pizzas till he passed out in a ‘pizza-coma’ for a handful of minutes.

It wasn’t like he needed to eat or sleep since whatever the Seraphim had done to him. But the psychological need was still firmly ingrained in him, even after how many years spent in Hell. Waking from his induced stupor, Slayer staggered back into the cockpit where the machine was still driving. She was humming Barracuda by Heart, to which he begrudgingly gave her a point in his book. Eyeing her again, Slayer noted how human her body appeared. Unlike Samuel, who was all elegance and show: this machine was built bulkier and ready for combat. Slayer knew what weapons looked like when he saw them, no matter how well they blended into her frame. Grabbing the whiteboard Slayer quickly wrote down: ‘Why didn’t you fight back?’

She turned and looked over at him with confusion. The human-like face, a woman in her twenties with soft cheeks and semi plump lips contorted oddly as the fake skin moved with the gears. Slayer snorted at the expression, unable to contain the noise as she caught him off guard. Blushing she profusely apologized and massaged her face in an attempt to undo the visage. Her short brown hair danced at the movement: “Sorry, my creators are still working on facial expressions. This is an early model and is prone to… mess-ups. They want me to get used to each feature one by one before they let me have more. It does smile good though.” She beamed at him then, displaying perfect pearly white teeth.

Slayer nodded at that, returning his gaze to the whiteboard. Tapping on it, he brought her back to his question before. “Why didn’t I fight back?” frowning she sniffed at that, “What makes you think that I could fight-” he grabbed her arm and pushed a finger in between the bars to the ammunition within. She blanched. “Ah-ah… well you see I…” looking elsewhere she shuddered and brushed his fingers away. “I don’t like- f-fighting. Don’t have the nerves for it anymore…” neon blue eyes darting away from him, she gestured to the blazing world before them. “So, where is this portal of yours?” 

She was avoiding the topic.

Slayer noted that for later, but a bit of respect kept him from pursuing that answer, he did nearly blast the things head off thinking she was Samuel Hayden. That at least earned her some breathing space. Gazing out onto the sodden rock planet, Slayer took in how far they had gone. “I’ve been following your footprints for a while now. How long had you been running after me? We’ve already covered nearly seventy miles and there’s still more!” he smirked at that and pointed to a mountain range that lurked in the distance. 

It had taken him a bit to cover the distance but he wouldn’t chalk it up too much. A small feat considering all he had to do was chase down a spaceship without any demonic interference. The robot whistled, “I only flew in three hours ago, you mean to tell me you covered that distance in such a short time?” looking over, she eyed him curiously. “Are you sure you’re human? All my scans indicate that you are but….” she shrugged. “Whatever that gold stuff is, it's altered you vastly but also subtly.”

Slayer stiffened at that, glaring down at her, he wrote: ‘Do not scan me like some science project!’

She flinched at that, cowering back into her chair. “I-I’m sorry. I didn-didn’t mean anything by it. It's just- we’re at war and I needed to make sure you weren’t...one of them.” At ‘one of them’ Slayer tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes. Another war for humanity….. sneering out of disgust, Slayer folded his arms. Can’t humanity just keep its nose dry for five minutes? Still, he wondered if it was a demonic invasion. Before he could ask, they were upon the mountain range. Peering out the observation window, he spotted the familiar cave after a few minutes. It was a small hole, not too big but pointing downward he prayed that the machine could see it.

Thankfully, most likely from superior vision, she nodded and began to lower the ship to a lower ridge with a flat area big enough to land on. They touched down gently, barely rocking back and forth as the landing pads extended and made contact with the ground. The machine pointed to his helmet which was sitting on the countertop behind him. Slayer quickly put it back on and looked around as the sound of hissing echoed throughout the ship. “Decompression.” the machine reassured, flicking a switch to power the craft down. Standing with him, the android marched back into the cargo bay where the ramp was being lowered. Following behind her like a ghost, Slayer snagged a piece of cable and tied it to her back.

Jumping, she turned around in shock. “What are you doing?” she yelped, rotating her arms backward, the robot tugged on the leash in dismay.

‘No running.’ he mouthed to her as he tied the other end to his belt. 

“Are you kidding me? Do I look like some child that might run off in a Wal-Mart?” the machine barked, pulling harshly against the metal connection. Slayer yanked back, causing the much smaller android to stumble. Thankfully her coordination in that bucket of bolts was decent and she regained balance before tumbling into him.

Spinning her around, he continued: ‘I don’t trust you.’

“Shocker.” she snapped, glaring at him angrily. Slayer shrugged his shoulders as if to say: ‘tough nuts.’ Rolling her eyes, the robot folded her arms and huffed. Seeing that he was not about to budge, she gestured for him to proceed, sighing in annoyance as he took the lead and began to drag her along. 

Outside the suns still burned above, but from this angle two of them shimmered ominously and subtly changed colors. Red, orange, a pale blue before flashing back to an even bright red. Slayer had never noticed that before, though he never moved outside till it was dark, so... Looking up, things quivered further up the mountain, fading in and out of reality. Strange shapes distorted and fizzled out of existence. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at that, causing him to shudder in disturbance.

“Temporal displacement.” The machine murmured, following his gaze in awe. “Worlds meeting in a singular place where only one is meant to be, sharing their energy like a knot in a yarn ball.” Slayer peered over at her in mild intrigue. She speaks as if she knows it well.  
‘You understand?’ he asked.

“Well, no, just hypothetically. Here, raise your hand up to the sky, I want to see if your presence-” Slayer lifted a hand, his shadow contorting along the ground, forming three ways where hers only showed one. The distortion above wavered and fought with itself. “Would change anything…. Astounding. I believe that you are the heart of this displacement. More… congealed though, which is good! Otherwise, you’d be- uh, well.” The sky shimmered and took on multiple colors at once as if on cue. “Like that.”

Slayer gritted his teeth, Hayden had nearly fucked him into ‘temporal displacement’ and whatever whack shit it involved. ‘Am I safe?’

“I believe so.” she stepped forward and pinched his side. “You're solid at least, so that's a good sign.”

‘Lovely.’ he let out a rumbling noise of aggravation and let his hand fall to his side. ‘We move.’

“Wait-wait I wanna record more of this before-hrk!” Slayer was already moving before she could postpone his return any longer, hauling her along like a dead carcass. Rambling bitterly, the machine had to work to straighten herself before falling on her ass. He began to climb up the ridge to the cave, finding familiar finger holds and making quick work of the distance. The robot kept up as well as she could but eventually found herself dangling like a piece of meat. Muttering dejectedly, she went limp till he began to lift her up and over. “You are an extremely impatient man, you know that right?” she complained.

Slayer paid no heed to her, focused intently upon the blackened hole before him. Turning around he mouthed: ‘Inside.’ and then proceeded to enter the cave. It was homely enough given its caveman origin, not that Slayer had spent time ‘decorating’ or ‘designing’ anything. It was a spherical cavern with very few stalagmites and stalactites. The dismal hole was dark enough that any normal human would have most likely tripped once a few feet in. In the back sat a rock-like bed, carved out by hand. It was the only thing really in there, aside from all the broken rubble and destroyed cave wall that Slayer had released his anger out onto.

The poor rock didn’t stand a chance.

Stepping in, the machine whistled as she eyed the temporary home of the Doom Slayer. A small panel opened up on her shoulder and turned on, lighting up the cavern. He grunted at that and marched over to the small outlet that lay hidden in the back right corner. The machine trudged along, her metal feet stamping harshly against the ground as she rushed to keep up with him. A small gasp escaped her as they entered a smaller, more etched room. In the middle sat a red demonic circle in which he had traversed through. Slayer felt an urge to punch something as he eyed the thing with disdain. Pulling the machine up next to him, he pointed at the circle.

“What the hell is that?” she asked, peering closer.

Slayer huffed angrily at that and folded his arms. If only you knew… He watched as she drew closer to it, eyes wide in curiosity and confusion. Circling thrice, she stopped and looked up at him. “I have a million questions.” 

He grimaced, flashbacks of Argent D’nur drawing forth in his mind. Questions lead to wanting to know more. Knowing more lead to obsession...corruption and utter destruction as- no he wouldn’t let it happen this time. Slayer would prevent the downfall of another reality, even if he had to destroy what he sowed. Hands twitching, he eyed the machine as she drew up to him. 

“I’m going to assume that this is the portal? I don’t see anything else it could be.” looking down she lifted her right arm in front of herself and blinked as the panels withdrew and a small hologram monitor blipped into existence. “Well,” she said as the screen loaded information in, data scrolling by too fast for Slayer to read. It was in another language, sharp letters that rolled and zig-zagged over each other. Subconsciously he touched the symbol on his helmet. Slayer hated learning new languages and prayed to be spared that again. “It is definitely the source of the temporal displacement. Like a rift or wormhole of some sort…. Strange though.” her eyes flickered up to him, “It runs on the same energy as your suit.”

Slayer flinched slightly at that, taking a more defensive stance. ‘And?’ he glared.

“Are… you’re not some criminal are you?” The robot matched his defensive stance, eyes darting to and fro as she took in the small room and how he covered the exit.

Gritting his teeth, he shook his head. The situation was complex, far too complicated to explain in silent words and gestures. While some would agree on that statement, Slayer was far beyond accepting such a title willingly. He had done many things, but all for the protection of others. The sacrifices he had given, how much he had struggled to survive… the countless years that had trickled between his hands.

Slayer was no criminal, rather a jailor to evil. 

Their judge, jury, and executioner. 

The one thing they feared…

Shaking his head he tried to explain, ‘No, I am but a soldier fighting a terribly cruel war.’ 

The android narrowed her eyes and gave him a stern stare as she measured his unspoken words. A tense minute passed before she held out a hand to him. “I believe you.” the machine stated, “I don't know why, but something just rings true in your eyes when you say that.” Slayer felt a twinge of relief and reached out to shake her hand, a look of surprise crossing her face as his own engulfed her own. “We really should introduce ourselves ya know?” the android laughed, smiling warmly at him. “I’m Kalthera’sthox Zevthra Duhn or Synthadroid X-01 in English. Most people just call me Synth. Who might you be?”

Slayer blinked twice at her name, mildly shocked by its length and simplicity when translated before grinning wickedly and mouthing: ‘Doom Slayer.’


	2. One Heck of a Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synth and Slayer have officially met, but now they must make plans on how to send the lost space marine home to finish the fight. Though getting Slayer to do anything turns out to be harder than Synth imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, Rhae here! I'm back with chapter TWO, can ya believe it?? I'm having such a blast writing this story, I hope all of you are enjoying it as much as I am. Though I'm gonna admit, writing Slayer is EXTREMELY difficult. He provides a challenge wherever he goes, I just hope I'm up to the long haul battle with him.
> 
> Before I forget, follow me at: https://twitter.com/rhaemaya if you wanna see story snippets as I work! Plus I post lots of memes too! ;D

Synth stood there, blinking rapidly as his answer sunk in. “Doom….Slayer...?” she repeated, enunciating each word with what could only be described as confusion. “What kinda name is that?” Slayer huffed angrily and jabbed a finger in her direction as if to say; ‘ _ well what about yours? _ ’ Sputtering in disdain, Synth set both her hands on her hips and squinted at him: “It's a name for a machine, not a human!” Lifting her left arm, she rolled her hand as she talked multiple times. Slayer refused to back down, meeting her gaze with a harsh soul crushing glare. Synth somehow managed to blanche and stepped back from him, hands retreating upward to protect herself. He stared for a moment longer before sighing and relaxing his gaze. 

Blinking twice, she lowered her hands and loured. “Was that really necessary? You damn near scared the piss outta me!”  _ As if you have piss… _ Scoffing, Slayer folded his arms again and nodded, this in turn caused the machine to harrumph angrily. In all honesty he found it interesting how human she acted. Unlike Hayden who seemed to enjoy hearing himself talk and bragging about his ‘accomplishments’ Synth showed a vast range of emotions and reactions.

Though it wasn’t much to compare to, since Hayden’s  _ triumphs _ were human sacrifices and dabbling in Hell energy.

Still, it was a breath of fresh air to see normal behaviors again. Given the circumstances that is, he would gladly accept an alternate universe ‘android’ compared to what lay back home. Slayer wasn’t a picky man, he took what he got and dealt with it. It helped though to swallow the bitter pill that was trying to get home with her willingly agreeing to help him.  _ But if she could only not act like a five year old child…. _ He mused silently before sighing and shifting his weight. Gesturing for her to proceed, in response Synth scrunched her face up. This made him snort as it was nothing short of ‘I just stepped in dog shit.’  _ Her creator’s really don’t know how to mimic a human face… it’s almost a pity…. Almost.  _

Kicking a rock in a tiff, the machine sneered and stomped over to the gateway. Mumbling to herself, Synth began to pace back and forth: “I agree to help you.” she started “And you scowl at me for remarking at your ‘name.’” air quoting the last word, she bent down and began to poke at the demonic symbols frowning deeply as her touch did not alter their appearance at all. “Not like a title for a name is strange or anything.” she dug slightly at the markings, finding them solid and permanent. “What are we in?” she prattled on; “Dungeons and Dragons?” Slayer rolled his shoulders in annoyance at that,  _ she was aware that I can hear her…. Right? _ But she continued about her little rant. He flinched hard as a knot between his shoulder blades tugged at him. Reaching back, Slayer slid his fingers between the suit, desperately trying to rub at it.

It took him a moment before he noticed the android watching him intently. 

“You okay?” She asked, a look of concern flickering across her face.

He grunted, a deep throaty noise that clawed its way up and let his hand fall limply to his side. The sound caused the robot to jump slightly which in turn made the metal coil to dance up between them like a snake. Slayer felt an eye twitch but reined in his anger as it began to bark madly at him. Not that it wasn’t always barking, but he at least owed the child a moment's respite from his…. Unrelenting wrath. There was no need to frighten her any further. ‘Well?’ He gestured to her and sighed heavily.

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Synth pointed to the demonic circle. “I don’t have the equipment to research this thing properly.” Pondering deeply, she scratched her chin as she traced along the edge of the blood red symbols. “I think right now, we need to go back to the ship and decide our next move.” stopping midway, she looked up at him. “There’s much that needs explaining and even more so planned.” Slayer couldn’t argue with that, it wasn’t like he was the one trying to figure out how to dimension hop. Besides, the place irked him like no other. Turning, he tugged on the cable between them, letting her know it was time to go then. Hurrying the little machine barked: “Ow, ow! Quit pulling!” as she sloppily trudged along behind him.

Slayer ignored her as his ice thin patience wore even thinner. He wanted to be ‘home’  _ now _ , and whatever she needed answered to get started on said project, well he’d comply… even if she didn’t like the truth. 

Ducking, he entered the small ship once more and moved into the cockpit, untying Synth from himself. As she fumbled with her side of the cable, Slayer grabbed the white board again, preparing for what she was about to unload. It was a dark red color. Tossing the metal cable down with exasperation, Synth brushed herself off and gave him a wary glance. Sniffing slightly at his refusal to say anything, she hopped up onto the counter space and wiggled for a moment to get into a comfortable position. Swinging her feet idly, Synth pointed at him: “You ready?” Slayer nodded, popping the cap off of the dry erase pen. “Okay, so first things first: Why does the ‘portal’ look like a satanic ritual?” Synth gestured toward her left, as if the thing was right there. “I mean, I’m no expert in cults and religions, but I know demonic symbols when I see them.”

Slayer carefully wrote out: ‘Because it  _ is  _ Satanic. The portal is from Hell.’

She stared at him for a moment, mouth slightly agape and face crinkled like a discarded potato chip bag. “Hell…. As in Hell  _ Hell? _ ” she puckered her face, “Hell’s not real dude.” Slayer felt his eye twitch at that, followed by a deep cutting frown that marred his face. Naturally Slayer would’ve strangled anyone who said that, but her stating this only meant that humanity here hadn’t experienced or dabbled in any Hell-ish invasions. Which also meant that he was now going to have to explain  _ everything _ and somehow convince her that it was true _. _

Groaning, he set out to writing. ‘Yes, Hell is real.’ he started. ‘Demons too’

“You’re joking….right?” she laughed nervously and began to rub the sides of her arms eyes shifting away from him. He huffed angrily and vehemently nodded his head. “I…. am having a hard time believing that Hell is real.”

‘Why?’ he added several question marks at the end and underlined the word for extra effect.

Synth blanched a bit and chewed the inside of her lip. Gesturing vaguely to him she blurted out: “It's not scientifically proven!”

Groaning, Slayer quickly erased the white board and began to scrawl again. His handwriting was getting slightly better as muscle memory kicked in. ‘Your scientific proof is right here, right now.’ He jabbed a finger at the cave hole and then at himself.

“Well… then why the hell are you involved with HELL?” she threw her hands up into the air, bumping the monitor above her. Yelping slightly, she quickly checked to make sure that no damage was done only to realize she had slightly dented it. Synth slumped down and exhaled in defeat. 

Moving forward, Slayer set the whiteboard in her lap so she could read it. ‘They took something from me. I want vengeance.’ his hands trembled slightly at this, his anger boiling within him upon mentioning what the demons had done. He had no desire to be here, to be wasting time with this child-like machine that jumped back and forth of believing and not believing him.

She looked up at him, eyes squinting as she peered deeply at him. “You really don’t lie, do you?” shaking her head slightly, Synth rubbed her temples. “This complicates matters for me.”

_ ‘ _ How so?’ he asked, leaning down to stare back at her. There were emotions behind those eyes: frustration, fear, concern and…. loathing? That caught him off guard, making Slayer redraw backward in confusion.

Synth faltered and shook her head. “It’s just that- How can I explain?” she closed her eyes and hummed for a second. Reopening them she suddenly asked: “If Hell is real, does that mean God is real too?”

_ Oh… oh this is not where I was expecting this to go at all. _ Slayer felt a mild panic setting in. How was he supposed to answer this?  _ Shit…. Fuck… Lie? No, that would seem… wrong? Fuck, why ask  _ **_this_ ** _ question???  _ Standing there dumbly, Slayer felt his hand twitch as his mind raced.  _ God what should I say? ‘Oh hey, yeah no, God’s not real but some tentacle alien woman is in charge and OH by the way, she’s allied with Hell?’ _ It seemed wrong, like telling a kid Santa wasn’t real but on a whole new scale.

“I’m going to take that as a no?” Synth’s voice was barely above a whisper, a twinge of relief reverberating off of her.

Slayer couldn’t help but look at her incredulously. Snatching the white board he hastily wrote: ‘You are happy about this?’ flipping it around, he tapped it several times and gave her an even more bewildered look.

The machine gave a half crazed laugh and shrugged at him: “I’m in a war where people become sick and turn into monsters. If God were real, I’d have some serious questions for him.” He blinked several times before nodding slowly.  _ That… okay yeah, no I can see that.  _ Slayer himself would have asked ‘God’ several questions if he had the chance. Lifting an eyebrow, he tilted his head slightly to which the android simply smiled. “Well, I’m going to agree with your statement that Hell  _ possibly  _ exists.” He narrowed his eyes at that but she lifted her hands to calm him down. “I still am quite skeptical, but not going to rule it out entirely.” Thrumming her fingers on the metal surface of the control panel, she laughed again, this time more airily. “Imagine me ‘discovering’ Hell. I bet humanity’s going to get a kick out of this.”

Something about the way she said it made Slayer think that someone somewhere was  _ not  _ going to get a ‘kick out of this.’  _ I can already tell that this is all going to go great. _ Inwardly grimacing, Slayer chided himself.  _ What am I thinking? _ She’s ripe to fall into the  _ same patterns as the Sentinel’s and the Khan Maykr. I cannot let this happen again.  _ Synth stopped what she was doing and folded her hands neatly together. “Well, if we’re going to get you home we best start going.” Hopping down from the console she walked over to the pilots seat. “I’m going to need more tools if I’m to understand and replicate opening a dimensional gateway back to your home. It’s going to take a lot of time and research along with supplies and lord knows what else.”

Plopping down into the pilot seat, she powered the ship on and began to click buttons like mad. “Which, you’re one lucky bloke since my…  _ creator _ ?” She tilted her head to the side and tapped the driving mechanism with the palm of her hand twice. Turning back to him, Synth shrugged: “He doesn’t like me calling him that. Thinks that me being self aware earns him the title of ‘ _ dad.’ _ ” Shuddering once, a frankly loud noise as all her metal pieces clanked against one another, she faced forward again and urged the ship upward. Slayer had to grab onto the ceiling vent casing, the nearest thing that matched his height in the small spaceship, to keep from falling as they quickly took off. Shifting his weight several times, Slayer grunted as the G-Force pushed against him harshly. 

He found it strange though, as the spaceship didn’t vibrate as they ascended, nor was there a roar of an engine. It would have been dead silent were it not for his own breathing and the gentle beeping from the controls. Within a few minutes they had exited the planet's atmosphere and were drifting into the great beyond. The engines turned on, flaring to life like an angered lion. Synth reached forward and flicked a switch and then waited a few moments before pushing the button beneath it. Lurching forward, the space around them seemed to warp slightly as the stars blurred and began to bleed trails of light.

Slayer watched in awe as he realized, or at least assumed, they were entering light speed. Once they stabilized more, he quickly wrote: ‘light speed?’ down as fast as he could and shoved it into Synth’s face. Jolting slightly, she pushed the whiteboard back so that she could properly read it. “Yeah? How else do you think I traveled here?” Slayer ignored her and continued to watch the observation window in wonder.  _ It's just like Star Wars. _ He couldn’t help but feel slightly giddy at the perspective that he was given. The Sentinel’s had only mastered short range teleportation wherein their ships would need to frequently stop at designated planets to refuel. 

This though, this was something they had never come close to.

_ Just how advanced is this race of people? _ Slayer’s good mood soured as he peered over at the machine next to him.  _ Smart enough to make a sentient and fully functioning android. _ He wondered slightly at what they used to power their civilization, if they had some godly creatures they paid homage to in return for their boon. Flinching, Slayer brought a hand to his temple, well more like helmet, as a red flash sent him reeling. 

Before him sat a great multiarmed batlike creature, its marred blistered face hung slack as a soundless cry of agony poured from its open chest. Reaching out, Slayer inserted the crucible into the energy core that floated above the creature's heart, twisting harshly to end its miserable life. A sort of sigh escaped its shattered maw, one of great relief and gratitude.

A hand touched his arm, causing him to jerk back to reality. Synth stood there with a concerned look on her face, blue eyes scrutinizing him like a hurt animal. “Are you okay?” she asked as he wrenched his arm away from her touch. It felt alien to him, the softness making his skin crawl and body tense as he waited for some sort of attack. Lifting her hands slowly, Synth made sure to show she was no threat. “It’s okay.” she whispered, “I’m not trying to hurt you.” Slayer scooted from her in disgust, detesting the weakness shown before him.  _ I am not some child with a boo-boo.  _ Sneering angrily at her, Slayer straightened his left gauntlet and proceeded to tower over the small android.  _ You haven’t a clue to what sort of  _ **_Hell_ ** _ I’ve been through. _

Staring up in horror, Synth cowered before him, shrinking nearly into a fetal position. “I’m sorry!” she yelped. Still he did not back down, wanting to make sure she got his point, Slayer reached down and grasped the back of her neck like a poor sodden kitten. Shaking her slightly, he grunted twice,  _ don’t think me some sort of poor stray animal you’ve collected. You may find these fangs bared at you. _ Releasing her, Slayer stomped back into the cargo bay to blow off his steam on something useless and not needed.

  
  


Whimpering, Synth flinched when she heard the crash and slowly stood up as the noise grew in volume. “Just what have I gotten myself into this time?” she lamented.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


It was at least an hour before Synth ventured into the loading bay, tip toeing into the room like a thief in the middle of the night. Letting out a hiss of distress as she spotted the damage, stopping she peered around trying to find the culprit. Synth finally found him, in the corner of the room reclining on a heap of broken wires and shredded metal. At first she took him to be asleep when he lifted his head and she noticed him eyeballing her. Jumping, Synth backtracked till she was behind the door frame peeking in. Realizing he wasn’t coming at her, Synth gently called out: “Ar-are you done?”

Slayer watched her for a moment before nodding slowly. It took her a few more minutes before she mustered the courage to slide back into the room. Approaching carefully, Synth wrung her hands as her flight or fight- well mostly flight- instincts threatened to take over her. “We’re about to land.” She stammered. He grunted and looked about for a moment before returning his gaze back to the child. Slayer would never admit it, but seeing her standing there sheepishly had him feeling…. conflicted.

He didn’t like it. 

Whatever it was though, buzzed around his head like a nat. It irked him, but the anger only seemed to make it worse which lead to well….. more anger. A vicious cycle, really. Slayer shifted in his seat as the feeling continued to grow and bother him. ‘Well?’ He mouthed, holding up a hand to show that he was waiting for more information.

“Well… theres still much that you don’t know or understand.” Synth began softly, but grew in volume as she spoke. “My creator’s are… divided. They’re in the middle of a civil war right now.” Slayer grimaced at that, knowing full well of how those usually went down. Shaking his head he made a line across his throat as if to say: ‘do not include me.’ Sighing with exasperation Synth continued: “I’m not trying to drag you into this, but you need to know what’s going on  _ somewhat _ rather than being blind.” As much as he wanted to disagree, Slayer knew better than that. Not that it had stopped him before from doing what he wanted, it just so happened this time involved more… finesse. 

_ Escort missions….. the worst…. _ Sighing, he folded his arms and rolled a hand for her to proceed. “They’re at war with one another over whether or not they want to enact vengeance on a misdeed done some couple thousand years ago.” Slayer knew a thing or two about revenge, so already he was slightly drawn to one side of said ‘civil war.’ Thinking for a moment, Synth rubbed her chin, “It’s a very cut and dry explanation, but i don’t think you’re the kind of guy who wants the details on things.”  _ She learns fast, I’ll give her that. _ He nodded at her and stood up. “The other thing you must be made aware of is that-“ from the cock pit came a loud blaring horn that made both of them jump. Synth rushed back and jumped into the seat. She was fast away at pushing buttons and typing something when Slayer came up behind her. An image flared to life before both of them, blurred and twisted beyond recognition.

“Torsha kutheha.” Came a static ridden voice, the image contorted further, seeming to swirl and writhe.

“Shit.” Synth hissed, peering over at Slayer, she motioned for him to back up. He refused, crossing his arms and stood firm. “Really? Fine.” Turning to the blob before her, Synth began to speak in the same burbling language: “Kithe vrafthu hausa.”

The image turned and twirled slightly; “Tith’Fa luthea’ Kalthera’sthox Zevthra Duhn, sifa teh abjean?” it did not seem to notice Slayer standing there as it leaned forward to stare at Synth with undivided attention.

The android breathed heavily, shivered once and seemed to panic. She continued to mess with the controls, turning knobs and typing twice as fast. “De’feht kahdean Z’baun, thanem vah baenale.”

“Keeerm?” the voice purred, “Saevna dooiest vaena?”

_ Great, more alien language bullshit.  _ Irked, Slayer unfolded his arms and looked around till he found the white board. Snatching the thing, he wrote: ‘What is it saying?’ 

Synth side eyed the message and frowned. “They want to know why I’m returning home sooner than expected.” she whispered, shooing the board from her face like an obstante insect as Slayer continued to dance it infront of her face.

Harrumphing, he erased his previous message and returned it to her with a new one: ‘Are you informing them about me?’

The machine sucked on the inside of her lip as she internally debated with herself. Drumming her fingers Synth finally shook her head. “No, it would cause…. Problems. Problems I would rather save for being docked and on solid ground before letting them out of the bag.”

“Gethae jandebal Kalthera’sthox? Laennath english?” At the word ‘english’ the spectre seemed to cough the word out with a foreign tongue, slaughtering the poor thing with horrible mispronunciation. 

“Uenaneh nbaeraa falkena.” Synth continued, “Laekan daether lelamejhar.” 

The spectre nodded and made some sort of gesture, fading somewhat before coalescing together into a more solid, but still blurred, ball of blue. “Teifa Kalthera’sthox, sevathu reandelka.” The screen flickered as the creature bowed and turned off completely. Synth let out an enormous sigh of relief and slid further down into her seat.

“Sweet baby Jesus.” she groaned. “I thought we were almost lost there.”

Slayer began to write again, dangling the whiteboard before him like a beggar. ‘Why would we be lost?’

“Z’baun is… a bit finicky with things. Bringing a human here will upset him greatly.” Synth tousled her hair a bit and ran her fingers through it several times.

‘Why would that upset him?’ Slayer asked. The machine twirled a piece of hair, averting her gaze. Tapping the board, he moved to loom over her.

“The humans did some bad stuff.” she murmured, putting on a sour face. 

‘How bad?’ he circled bad twice and underlined it.

“Pretty bad.” Sighing, Synth pushed herself upward to sit properly in her seat. Pulling a lever downward, they dropped from lightspeed. What Slayer saw before him was awe inspiring. A massive water planet which had cracked open stood before them, it's almost spilled contents kept in check by great clear tubes that interlocked the planet with two smaller planets along its sides. Hundreds upon thousands of other spaceships stood in orbit around the planet, all of varying sizes, each one more complex than the other. Like pods or seeds with spiraling crescents jutting from them, they each bloomed in varying ways and designs. Beautiful, elegant, deadly.

The large planet held towering massive cities, each in their own bio dome. Flickering shapes moved within them at high speeds, like dancing fire flies.Slayer could only watch in silent wonder, his mind drawing comparisons between the Night Sentinels and….this...this was beyond what he had imagined for the owners of said android. Perhaps he had grown used to the Sentinel’s ways, forgetting that technology could be something other than… medieval looking. Though Slayer discluded the UAC slightly, he half mindedly noted that the human’s technology was nothing compared to this. Synth piloted them toward the biggest city that rested in the core of the planet, its bio dome a fusion of the magma ridden core of the planet and the dancing water which flowed from the planet. “This is D’uther, the homeworld of the Baukata, or the resistance I suppose.” 

They slowly glided past a dreadnought ship that easily dwarfed theirs, making Slayer muse about how long it must have taken to make such a beast. Sweeping along its flank, they passed through a set of rings that circled it, skimming along the metal ever so carefully before flying away, like a kiss of some sort. Slayer eyed Synth momentarily, before he continued to watch on as the silver thing slipped past his view. His thoughts migrated along with it.  _ So many ships… this is practically an armada. It reminds me of… so many things _ Slayer looked off into the dark void of yet another universe he had found himself in and located there a yearning he had nearly forgotten. How many worlds would it take to find one to call home? Could he ever call a place home again? 

Somehow he knew, deep down inside all of it, there was nothing left for him anywhere. The pain would never let him rest nor relent. This was just a pit stop along the way. Yet somehow, buried within him, he felt a pang of some dark dreary emotion that he had forgotten the name to.  _ God help me, this amount of alone time is going to drive me insane. I am feeling things again…. _ Stiffening, Slayer tried to stretch slightly only to bang his hands on the ceiling. Sighing, he returned back to his haunched form: _ I wonder... How long till it's all these emotions are washed away again?  _ Thankfully, they began their descent before his thoughts could wax any further. Turning around, Slayer brought his full attention to the little machine, watching her work to drive them safely down below. She was too busy to notice him, hands flitting about like dancing moths over the controls. 

Slayer was content enough to let her be, observing as the water world engulfed their view. Strange creatures hovered in the thrusted open ocean, long serpentine things that bore six heads and mouths full of fangs. An urge to tell the machine to stop so he could fight one was there and gone as fast as they shot past the dragon-like creatures that chased smaller, more agile prey. “You like the Dinenaehl? Pretty things till they start spewing acid at you.” Synth side eyed him, a gentle smile on her lips. Slayer noticed her hands trembling slightly on the controls, small fingers twitching ever so slightly. Nodding, he pointed at another fish, this one a more bulbous looking thing with multiple eyes and a singular small puckered mouth. “Thats a Deniji. They taste like hazelnut if you cook them.” 

He couldn’t imagine ever putting that thing near his mouth, let alone eating it, but the prospect of it tasting like hazelnut only served to make Slayer shiver in disgust. Synth chuckled, “Yeah, I call them the tumbleweeds of the ocean.” They began to slow down as they neared the massive city at the core of the planet. It was beautiful, the high sci-fi city held towering spires and floating platforms. Each building was coiled and bent into strange, yet intricate shapes. Coral-like trees grew everywhere, jutting from rocks and study objets like potted plants, they were all decorated with baubles and trinkets to make them look appealing to the eye. Literally everything gleamed a bright silver as the glittering sea drenched sunlight made its way down to the core, co-mingling with the pleasant orange glow from the slag that encased half of the bio-dome. It was a mystical city, Slayer could feel it in his bones. Something had changed in this place, and very recently too. But this was clear by what Synth had said about them rebelling against their own. The new life that the city emanated had blossomed from a change of heart. Part of him wanted to know why, while the other part reeled back from it. He had enough on his plate and the desire to not be drawn in again to yet another war had the great Slayer on edge. 

Turning slightly, they landed neatly on an outstretched platform on the highest building. Synth powered down the spaceship and looked up as someone began to approach them from the landing pad. “Stay here.” she said sternly. The soldier lifted an eyebrow at her and swung to stare as she left. Irritated at being commanded about, Slayer rolled his shoulders. Letting out a scorching hiss, he stomped after the little android.

Slayer found her talking to the person that had come to greet them. They stood close to his height and wore some sort of mechanical suit. Slayer came to a lurching halt when it turned to look at him. It was no person, but some sort of… creature.  _ Jesus! _ Slayer nearly jumped back from it in shock.

The thing that stood before him was nothing like he’d seen before. With semi translucent skin, the creature had a humanoid like torso with a much more rimmed and elongated head. With countless tentacles that wrapped neatly and securely into the mech’s frame, the thing turned to look at him in what Slayer could only imagine as shock as the pitch black, star bitten, eyes seemed to widen. The thing was decorative, gills and long appendages hanging from its body like seaweed strands or some sort of fashion show that shimmered in a sea blue with a dark purple tinged in pink. Pinning their thin translucent eyelids membrane high it gurgled: “Si-theork hethi va’kallithe.” as it spoke, its tiny flat headed mandible mouth clacked as it spewed harsh guttural words in an almost loud voice. Each ‘decoration’ spun as it jerked to Synth. “Havtheh kall mehuthe.” It snapped, drawing a humanoid-like hand that was devised of several dozen or so tentacles intertwined together into eight digits. 

_ That- it…. its a jellyfish… person?  _ Slayer seemed to stagger in shock at the thing as it continued to throttle Synth with harsh words.

“Teathe jehuthe.” Synth retorted, jabbing her own finger back in anger. “Ehetikeb ahebald.” turning to him she gave a nasty look that said ‘I told you to stay put.’ Before turning back to the alien and hastily speaking- no begging it to do something.  _ She’s fighting for me,  _ Slayer realized subtly.

“Petheanel th’eabek nauena karesgee.” the jellyfish snarled “Tekekeak elanrea.” It must have been fuming mad since the frills on its face stood up to give it a porcupine like appearance. 

Looking to Synth he mouthed; ‘What’s it saying?’ but she was too busy arguing with the thing to take notice of him. Slayer breathed deeply, cracked his knuckles and then stepped forward to grab the jellyfish thing by the throat and lifted it off the ground. Synth let out a cry as the alien shuddered out a sputtering cough. 

“What are you doing?!” Synth exclaimed. 

Slayer gave her a vexed look as the alien squirmed in his grasp, its tentacles wrapping around his arm as it tried to wrench itself from him. Letting out an exasperated huff, Slayer jerked his head to the alien and gave her a look that said: ‘taking care of this thing.’

Synth was not enthused. “Killing him, is NOT going to help us!” Racing over she latched onto his arm and tried to pry his prey free, but Slayer’s grasp was tight as a vice grip. “Z’buan is no enemy! Let him go Slayer!” after a moment, a small cry echoed from her; “Please!”

The alien dropped like a sack of bricks. Collapsing onto the ground, it sprawled out like a kite with too many strings. Coughing up a reddish liquid, Z’baun gasped. A deep rattling noise sounded within its chest as it continued to vomit. “Now look at what you’ve done!” Synth sibilated. “He’s suffocating!” Slayer looked at her in confusion, eyebrows knitting together as she bent down and picked the larger creature up like an overstuffed body bag. “Quickly! We must take him inside!” she lurched forward, breaking into a dead sprint within seconds. Slayer swiftly followed suit, keeping in tow right behind the machine.

Rushing along the bridge, they entered the building, large metal doors opening at their approach. Inside were more Jellyfish men, all of which turned to look at them. Some began to speak, that was until they noticed Slayer and let out burbling gasps. “KATHA!?” several shouted while many of the others fled.

“T’shua! t’shua pofeth’ka!” Synth shouted, lifting Z’baun higher for the others to see. “Tifiki jafernthu.” those that remained shivered but nodded before racing off. Slayer walked to her side, looking down at the alien which had turned several shades paler. “T'syukios can’t breathe air.” Synth suddenly said, eyes narrowing as she turned to him. “What he vomited up was a special liquid that allowed him to process oxygen naturally without being in water.” cradling the alien, she gently laid him down onto the ground. “Zeh zeh putha, zeh zeh.” Slayer stepped closer and knelt down next to her. 

‘Why do we wait?’ he asked.

“They are bringing him aid.” Synth snapped, nearly baring fangs at him.

Unimpressed, Slayer folded his arms.  _ She is but a child. Waiting for others to act for her. _ ‘Move.’ he shoved her aside and reached down. Grasping the alien’s throat, he clenched hard, but not hard enough to kill it.

“What are you doing?!” Synth howled, launching herself at his side in an attempt to get him off Z’baun. Her metal hands clenched into his armor, leaving small marks.

‘Keeping him alive.’ Slayer used his other hand to push her off of him and keep her at bay. The machine tried her best, but even her strength was nothing compared to his. Looking down, Slayer noticed that the alien barely thrashed under his grip but its color had at least stopped changing. ‘See?’ he tilted his head slightly and eyed the android with perturbation.  _ If there’s one thing I hate almost as much as demons, is people who refuse to act. _ Rolling his eyes as the machine continued to fight him, Slayer resigned his fate to waiting it out.

Thankfully help was back within a few moments, each jellyfish alien stopping in their tracks, eyes widening at the scene before them. Salyer would’ve felt sheepish if he gave a shit: which he didn’t. Nodding in their direction, Slayer released the robot and pointed to the nearly unresponsive Z’baun. Hurrying over, a smaller more pink and red alien knelt down before him and waited for him to relinquish his grasp before administering more of the red liquid into the Zbaun’s lungs. To Slayer’s surprise, within seconds the alien stirred, taking a rattling breath. Color blossomed across his body as it slowly rose. “Tafa terra.” It groaned. 

Upon fully opening its eyes, Z’baun looked to Slayer and spoke as evenly as he could in english: “You…. Who  _ are _ you?”

Letting out a sigh, half relief that it could speak his language and half sheer impatience, Slayer realized just how long today was going to be.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


It took several hours before Synth could fully explain everything. By then they had moved to Z’baun’s quarters for seclusion in an attempt to stave away the bombarding questions from the other T’syukios. Needless to say, a human this far away from home got some attention fast. Thankfully for them, Z’baun was quick to react to this once he had recovered, which thanks to how little there was in a jellyfish person’s body: I.E. they were literally jello with a high powered brain. 

The room he had led them to was a large circular thing, covered head to toe in a bluish purple metal that softly glistened from the white lamps that dangled from the high ceiling. An enormous waterfall took up most of the viewing space, being stationed in the back as decoration. A statue of several T’syukios lounging casually with one another was seated at the rippling waters edge, the master craftsmanship was gorgeous and drew the eye. A large half crescent table and chairs were stationed before the waterfall, while a soft maroon carpet laid out beneath them that dampened their footsteps. Lastly, massive tapestries hung from above, showcasing what Slayer could only imagine to be the alien’s homeworld symbol. To either side of them were hallways that lead into separate rooms. After a quick exploration, Slayer confirmed a kitchen to the right filled with unknown dried fish and whatever the alien’s called ‘food.’ A strange lay to the left bedroom that held a small pool filled with water and several coral-like decorations. 

They were indeed in this creature’s  _ ‘home.’ _

Z’baun gestured for them to sit, in which both responded accordingly. 

“Explain.” was all he said.

Synth looked to Slayer, who nodded in return.

  
  


By the time Synth was done, she felt exhausted and had slumped down in her chair. Z’baun was as, if albeit slightly distressed, eased into the situation as best as they could manage. He kept his composure as well as one could upon finding out other realities existed and that some male human had traversed it. Thankfully for Synth, Z’baun’s curiosity outwon his suspicion of the ‘Doom Slayer’ even if the man had nearly strangled him to death. 

“A human from another reality?” Z’baun mused as he rubbed his throat with his hand. His broken and stuttering english was borderline childs play, but he had adopted the language to accommodate their  _ visitor _ . “You wish to help?” He asked, turning to Synth with a strange look on his face. Synth knew it at once to be concentration, what with how the lines drew across his face in a way that was starting to become familiar to her.

“Aye.” She said half heartedly. Looking over at Slayer, Synth frowned at his lackluster attention. The man had reclined back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he dozed off. He hadn’t chimed in or made a peep at all and when anything directed to him came up he merely gave Synth an unamused glance before returning back to his nap.  _ Insufferable asshole. _ She was beyond fuming, having thought more than twice to tell him to go figure this out himself. Luckily, Synth had managed to rein herself in with the knowledge that a possible solution stood before her.

She needed him just as much as he needed her.

Though truthfully this only led more into her grating aggravation.  _ He could at least show some initiative to help us! Or apologize for his behavior! The man is nothing more than some grown…. gorilla! _ Huffing, Synth turned to Z’baun and whispered: “I’m sorry for what he did to you.”

Z’baun blinked at her several times, his mech suit humming at it idled from no movement. “Scared him.” the alien finally said with a half gurgling chuckle. “Just like he scared me.” gesturing to the sleeping man, Z’baun tilted his head and peered closer at him. “ _ I have never seen a human before.” _ he spoke in his native tongue once he had confirmed the man to be asleep. “I have  _ only ever seen them through your memories that you have shared.”  _ Drumming his fingers on the table Z’baun wrinkled his face which caused his nostrils to flare. “ _ Do they all smell this bad?” _

_ “No that’s just him. Don’t think he’s had a break in…. A while.” _ they both turned and watched as the man let out a long snore and shifted in his seat. 

Z’baun smiled, which was quite horrifying seeing all the small needle-like teeth bared like a gaping maw. “ _ You have a knack for finding those who need it. Though I will be honest, I am surprised that you would help him given ....” _ Synth looked away from both of them for a moment, hands clenched in her lap. “ _ Ah, I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you again.” _

_ “It’s the right thing to do.”  _ She murmured. _ “He’s lost.” _

_ “And needs to find a way home?” _ Z’baun folded his hands neatly together and watched her for a moment. “ _ Ah, I see now. If you think this will help you, I pray to every God that stands out there that it will.” _ Synth shrugged her shoulders, still refusing to look at either of them. Z’baun sat back in his seat and sighed, looking up he stared at the waterfall for a moment before asking. “ _ What do you need to do this?” _

  
Synth turned and looked at him with a sudden fire in her eye. “ _ I’m going to need a lot of things.” _


	3. Chapter Three: The Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slayer continues his wait to return home while Synth tries her best to entertain the easily angered soldier. A test of wills between the two is brewing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I'm back! Sorry for the super late post, been very busy with a promotion and just general life things. Im super stoked to finally post chapter three of this story as this is the farthest I've ever gotten with writing a fan-fiction. I gotta say though, trying to fill the build-up with some world-building and character gauging is quite hard when the Slayer is involved. A very impatient man who's having to wait makes for a nasty outcome. Here's to Synth and her prolonged exposure to straight rage injected into the veins. Again don't forget to follow me over on Twitter @Rhaemaya! See you next time!

The world was made of shadowy shapes, no light shone through save for the headlights on his visor. Swaying penumbras danced to and fro at his approach, brushing past him in a flurry of fang and claws.In the distance were sounds of screams that stirred the great Doom Slayer, their echoing calls eerily familiar as he jerked in their direction. With a grunt, Slayer took off after them as a sense of dread filled his stomach. But the darkness did not want him to follow, it pushed against him like a wave, causing him to stumble and falter momentarily. 

Growling, he thrashed against its embrace and trudged forward, slowly, ever so slowly.

Another pang of cries rang out, sending a surge of adrenaline through him as realization began to dawn upon him who…. and what, was dying ahead of him.

_ Faster! Move faster! God damn you! _ Lashing out with a great fury, Slayer let loose a howl of wrath that shook him to the core as he pushed past the shadowy force set against him. He ran to them, heart pounding as his feet fought against the darkness. Their silhouettes danced in the distance, contorting in horrific ways as something tore into them. The sound of flesh ripping filled his mind, sending him over the edge of madness as their babbling turned into senseless shrieks which quickly died out as he finally drew near.

He was too late.

Just like he always was.

  
  


Slayer awoke with a start, jumping from his seat in a flurry. Which only served to tangle him up in the blanket that had been placed on him. Tripping over his own feet, he crashed to the ground in a loud ‘thump.’ Sputtering, he thrashed wildly as his emotions caught up to him, shredding the blanket into little bits as he did so. Climbing upward, Slayer grabbed a hold of the table as he hauled himself like a pride wounded bear. He kicked out at the last bit of cloth that still clung to him, sending it fluttering down to the pile he had subconsciously made in his fit. Slayer stomped on it for good measure as he panted heavily. Letting out his anger, he trampled the blanket till it was so deflated and shredded that it would work well for kindling. 

Looking around wildly, it was then that he realized he was alone.

  
  


While under normal circumstances this would have delighted him, instead all Slayer felt was concern as he gazed around trying to discern where the machine and her companion had run off to. Huffing twice, he began to meander about the ‘house.’

Walking over to the kitchen, Slayer poked his head in. The room, a crescent shape with a floating island and several chairs was empty save for a plate of what appeared to be freshly cooked fish and a note on it. Narrowing his eyes, Slayer carefully approached. It was written in perfect calligraphy.  _ Figures, this reeks of robot and her ‘perfection.’  _ Grunting, Slayer plucked the note up and opened it.  __

  
  


_ Slayer: _

_ Left with Z’baun to get the items we need to help you get home. Be back in a couple hours. Also made you something to eat! Please try not to break anything. _

_ Synth. _

Slayer gritted his teeth and looked around annoyed,  _ what am I? A child? _ Huffing angrily, he quickly flicked the fork next to the plate, causing it to shoot off the countertop. It clattered across the metal floor, skidding underneath what could only have been an alien refrigerator. Grunting, he grabbed the plate of cooked fish and dumped it into the trash can…. Or atleast what he thought to be a trash can, not that it mattered to him whether it was or not. 

With a grunt, he tossed the plate against the wall, Slayer grinned as it shattered and small pieces rained across the floor. Thrumming his fingers on the countertop, the large man snorted and walked away.

Moving to roam the hallways, each one decorated with alien paintings and statues, Slayer felt a fickle of anger fill him that quickly grew till he stood there boiling with hatred and wroth. _All this time wasted with nothing to show but ‘promises’! I’ve had enough of this! If this race is so advanced then why am I still here_ ** _waiting!_** His impatience was at its full. Striking out, he smashed a mirror that hung on the wall behind him. The fragmented glass fell down to the ground, scattering about with the previous sundered plate.

Slayer stood there shaking as the surging emotions caught him in their grasps. 

It was several minutes before he had calmed down enough to stop shaking.

  
  


Stomping back to the office room, he moved to the desk. Yanking open the drawers, he idly browsed through Z’baun’s things till something caught his eye. A small pistol like object sat hidden poorly beneath several layers of paper. Intrigued, Slayer snatched it up quick as a lightning bolt and began to monkey around with it.

He made sure to keep the end facing away from him as he examined the thing.  _ This is a gun? _ Tilting his head, Slayer squinted at it like a cat peering at a suspicious object. It was curved like an arched moon like shape with several prongs sticking out the sides. There didn’t seem to be any way to load the gun and no matter how many knobs he: pushed, pulled and flicked, seemed to do anything. With a sigh, he sat back in the chair behind him and continued his inspection of the weapon.

It took him several tries, but like a rubix cube, Slayer found the solution quite simple.  _ The alien had an eight digit hand, meaning that it would grab the weapon like so…. _ placing both hands on either side, he pressed the prongs in till they all laid flat. A soft clicking sound emanated from the gun as it lit up and began to glow between the lines that fused the metal together. Smiling, Slayer pointed it up to the ceiling and pulled the trigger that rested smack dab on top of the weapon. A hissing sound burbled up from the gun till finally, with a lurching bang, it shot a small orb of blue light from the barrel. 

  
  


Much to Slayer’s begrudging pride, the small thing packed a punch. The gun almost slipped from his fingers, as if it had become alive on its own. Twisting slightly, he let go of the thing before it tore his fingers off somehow. The gun went sliding across the table before dropping to the floor. Slayer scratched his head- well helmet, and jumped in shock as a chunk of ceiling fell down several feet in front of him. Looking up, he couldn’t help but grin wickedly as he saw the damage caused by the little weapon. A good man sized hole was in the roof, big enough to let the strange light outside cascade in. Hopping up, Slayer skirted around the table, praying that he hadn’t lost the new toy under the rubble.

To his luck, which was about fifty fifty half the time, the gun had escaped near destruction by mere inches. Reaching down, the large man gently cradled the it in his hands. For a moment he stared down at it, losing himself in thoughts of destruction and devastation he could wrought with such a gun in his arsenal. Sliding the weapon into one of the pouches on his side, he stood up and looked around.  _ Could there be more? _ Blinking twice he grinned to himself and hurried back to the desk.

Slayer turned the place upside down looking for more weapons. It mattered little what was in his way, for his bloodlust would only be sated once he was armed to the teeth once more and demon kind being slaughtered mercilessly. It was simple as that. 

By the time the door opened and his lost birdies returned, the place looked like a whirlwind had blown through it.

Synth merely stood there mouth agape in horror, eyes wide.

Slayer looked up from his pile of rubble and tilted his head. The machine continued to stand in shock until an eight fingered hand sat on her shoulder. “Well….” came a harsh and broken english. “Perhaps you were right about not leaving him alone for too long….” Z’baun grimaced as he took in his defaced home. “Tehithi tuak.” he groaned in jellyfish.

Stomping over, Slayer stood before them with arms crossed as he glowered at the two of them. ‘Where were you?’ he mouthed. He had to crane his neck upward to stare at the alien, whereas the machine met his own height.

“Preparing.” Z’baun murmured, releasing Synth from his grasp. “There is much to do in regards to your…. Desire to return home.” he made a range of clicking noises that caused Slayer’s hairs to stand up on his arms. Even the machine shuddered at it. Z’baun shifted inside his exoskeleton suit, jelly like body dancing with the movement and looked from one to the other several times. “Well, being as it is, I believe now would be a good time to show our guest around?” He bobbed his head at Slayer and blinked twice. “Surely you would like to…. z’thurea, explore? Is that the word?”

Synth eyed the alien for a moment before nodding, “A  _ tour _ of the city might be in order-“ Slayer frowned deeply and flexed his folded arms. Understanding at once, the machine sighed and explained further; “While our new ship is outfitted with the tools we need, it would be…. good… for you to get out and not…” she gestured to the mess around them. “Linger…”

Slayer knew this was them trying to rein him in somewhat. He wasn’t about to take the bait,  _ Do I look like I need to be watched over?  _ To say he bristled at her words was putting it lightly. The man nearly puffed up like a cat, his poor suit creaking from the strain. 

Taking heed of the situation, Synth quickly added; “I’ll even show you some of the weapons we have here.” Slayer perked up at that and deflated, seeming to be sated if only slightly. Tilting his head to and fro for a minute, he debated on her offer before sighing deeply and nodding. “Good, Z’baun can you finish our arrangements please?” The alien gave her a toothy mandible grin and let out a chirruping noise before walking over to his somewhat unharmed desk. Synth turned to Slayer and beckoned to him. “Follow me.” Trudging away, she hesitated till she heard the loud thumping sounds of his feet behind her.  _ God help me keep this..  _ **_thing_ ** _ contained long enough. It’d like having a loaded gun that's ready to fire any second. _ Rubbing her temple, Synth took a deep breath and entered the elevator. Once he stepped in beside her, she pushed the button and watched as the doors closed.

  
  
  


“We’re going to skip the tour of the city.” Synth said once the door to the elevator shut. If relief was a thing he could feel, then Slayer might’ve sighed in it. “I’m going to take you somewhere more….constructive than informative.” Looking down at his belt she frowned, “Did you steal Z’baun’s gun?” Slayer didn’t pay her any mind until she tried to reach for the weapon. Grabbing her hand, he held it there for a moment and gave her a very hard glare before she relented. “Jesus you’re aggressive. Fine, keep it.” Synth folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. Blinking, her eyebrows raised as he murmured something to herself. “Here.” she said, reaching into her arm she pulled something out of herself and handed it over to him. “Take this.” She encouraged him. Peering closer Slayer noticed a small USB like gadget in the palm of her hand. 

“It will translate T’ufokii for you.” When he tilted his head at her, she sighed and grabbed his hand, pressing the thing into his palm. “It means this little thing will convert the ‘alien’ language here into English for you. That way you don’t have to learn it…. Not like you’d bother anyway…” Slayer eyed the small thing with disdain,  _ this better not be another ‘tether.’ Swear to God I’ll break something if this fucks with my suit more…  _ Slayer snorted and plucked the little thing up between his large fingers. Pulling at his chest plate, he plugged it into a connector port that opened up and waited as a download bar appeared on his screen. 

By the time the doors opened again, it had finished. Handing it back to the machine, he followed her out. The receptionist at the desk lifted their head and greeted them. “Hello Synth.” Came a feminine voice. Slayer’s eyebrows raised in surprise,  _ something that actually does its job?  _ Looking over at the android, he eyed her for a moment.  _ Fine, a brownie point to you machine. But just one. _

“Greetings Tri’vha. How are you today?” Synth responded in kind, waving gently at the alien. 

Tri’vha ignored her comment and cocked her head as she spotted Slayer, immediately standing up and gesturing at him. “Are you taking him somewhere?” She asked, voice wavering slightly. Slayer felt his eye twitch.

“The markets and a few other places. Do you know if the machinery shop is…  _ accepting _ visitors today?” Synth drummed her fingers on the counter, eyes searching the jellyfish with certainty. 

Blinking, Tri’vha thought deeply for a moment before stirring to life. “I’m not sure that they are-” Synth’s eyes narrowed slightly as she shifted her weight in annoyance. Hesitating, the alien quickly turned to her computer in understanding, “You know  Dr’atha doesn’t want you there Synth.”

“I go where I please.” Synth stated bluntly. “Inform Dr’atha that we will be there shortly.” Grimacing, she bobbed her head and began tapping away at the keyboard. Reaching into her desk and pulled out a piece of glass in the shape of a rectangle. Handing it over to the machine, she watched as Synth looked it over and swiped a finger across its surface. Data logs and information appeared across the small screen, written in a language that was quickly translated in such a dizzying fashion that Slayer swayed slightly on his feet. Shaking his head, he blinked away the blurry lights and grunted in annoyance. 

Nodding to herself, Synth slipped the tool into an open slot in her arm and thanked Tri’vha. Turning away, she motioned for Slayer to follow. Grinding his foot into the ground, the soldier begrudgingly took after her like a large hellhound after its tiny ‘owner.’ 

Once they exited the building, Slayer couldn’t help but immediately look to the sky. The mantle of the world oozed against the barrier like a freshly opened wound, dribbling down its sides till it pooled below into a lake. Turning to his right, he noticed that the lava trailed  _ upwards  _ instead _.  _ Perplexed, Slayer nudged the machine to get her attention and pointed to it. “Curious about the lava?” she asked. He nodded. Synth thought deeply for a moment before rolling her hand through the air as she spoke: “The inner core of the world is what is powering everything right now. It’s buried deep within the heart of the city.” She gestured towards various pillars that jutted from the ground, each emitting a strange aura of blue color. “Most of the mantle and outer core was scrapped to make majority of the city and ships, what with it being pure Lithain and all.” 

Slayer stared at her with a blank look, clearly not understanding what she meant. “Right, right, you don’t know anything… Lithain is a type of metal that's harder than Tungsten, fairly rare and highly valued for its light weight and durability.” Synth lifted her arm to show him the shimmering blueish metal that made her body. “You can give it a squeeze if you want. I won’t break as easily as-“ Slayer reached out and grabbed her entire arm with a single hand and squeezed tight. 

The metal held firmly. 

Irked, he clamped down even harder, straining against the frame till finally, with a  _ crunch, _ it caved in to his strength. Synth flinched as the metal bent inward, yelping out in pain which in turn caused Slayer to release her in surprise. “God damn!” Synth jumped backward a bit and grabbed her arm, curling inward defensively. Looking down at her arm, she turned back up at him, her eyes widened in sheer awe and horror. “What the hell  _ are  _ you?”

Shrugging, he watched as she inspected her wound, small fingers poking at the warped metal as if it would bite her back at any moment. A bit of pride filled Slayer, “Are you sure you’re human?” She peered over at him with suspicion in her eyes. 

‘Mostly.’ Slayer mouthed, looking down at his hand, he flexed it in a way that suggested he had a hard time believing himself.

“Well… that's...comforting...” Synth wrinkled her nose and gave him a hard look for a moment. The man refused to respond to her, his brown eyes nearly glazed over as his thoughts were elsewhere. Waving a hand in his face, she pulled back when he jerked his head in her direction. 

‘What?’ He mouthed at her, eyes narrowing.

“Nothing, nothing!” Synth wore a suddenly timid look on her face, eyes widening slightly at his turn of emotion, “Just...making sure you’re there is all. You always seem sorta...aloof is all.” Slayer huffed at that and shifted his weight from foot to foot. Gesturing between them, he motioned in such a way to suggest that they ‘hurry up.’ Tutting, Synth swayed as she turned around and began to lead him away. 

As they walked, Slayer did take in the sights, being as there was nothing else to do. The shimmering city seemed just the opposite of the Sentinels. Where one had metal and ancient stone works mixed together, the other seemed to be the wet dream of every sci-fi nerd. The city of the jellyfish people was peaceful, a gentle hum of technology filled the air and… surprisingly soothed the top layer of his ever burning wrath. 

There was something about seeing an entire race, undesigned by the hands of the Kahn Maykr that made Slayer feel… Strangely good about?

Maybe it was just the knowledge that there were realities untouched by her that eased his mind if only slightly. Looking over at Synth, Slayer took her in for a moment, truly acknowledging her presence in his mind. She was the offspring of these people, at least in a way. As if by instinct Slayer knew that she was special, in a way that he couldn't fathom. Not as if he wanted to, but he could at least thumb the idea for a minute.

They were trusting him with her.

Or was it the other way around?

Snorting, he looked elsewhere, not wanting to let himself be dragged into another reality's problems. He had places to be. Things to kill. Vengeance to take.

They moved downward to the street below them and turned right to follow the sidewalk. To Slayer’s surprise there were only a few people out and about and those that were seemed to be in a rush. Each one hurried along about their business, casting sideways glances at the man that walked with their machine. When a child with its…  _ parent _ .. stopped dead at their approach, Slayer hesitated when the small thing, barely tall enough to reach his knee cap, lifted a hand and pointed at him.

“Look mother, is that a human?” it asked in a high song like voice. The mother seemed to change several shades of blue in quick succession as she took them both in. 

“Not now dear.” She whispered quickly, pulling the child to her side and moving away from Synth and Slayer. 

“But mother, I want to see what it looks like.” The child whined back, pulling at the grip on its arm, it tried to turn back to get a better look at Slayer.

“This is not a zoo. We do not ‘look’ at other races-” The mother harshly berated, tugging sharply at the child's exoskeleton suit’s forearm. Sheepishly the mother turned to Slayer and bowed her head in reverence. Apologizing, she turned and hurried off, dragging the little child along with her, bemoaning the entire way. Slayer blinked several times and turned to make a comment to Synth only to realize the machine had trudged ahead. She seemed lost in her thoughts, eyes lost in whatever she was daydreaming about as she rested a hand on her chin. It took several wide steps before he caught up to her, but once near he reached out and tapped her shoulder twice.

Synth flinched and whirled back to him. ‘Lost?’ He mouthed at her. 

“What? No! I’m just….thinking about some things.” She casted her gaze elsewhere. Slayer huffed at that, not wanting to delve into her mind before she opened her mouth and began spilling everything. “I just cant get over the fact that you’re from another reality. Do you know how much energy it must have cost to send you here?” She made a soft gesture with her hands, the bent metal in her arm stood out like a flare against him. “I wanna know  _ why _ they sent you here.”

‘Accident.’ Slayer mouthed.

But she wasn’t paying attention and continued to prattle on. “Like; were you supposed to be a sign of communication between your home and my own?”

‘Accident.’ He tried again.

“Or were you sent to be a sign of impending  _ doom…. _ ” 

Slayer let out a groan at that and scratched at the visor of his helmet. If only he had someone to communicate with her, someone that knew what had gone on and could… elaborate the details so that she would. Shut. Up.

While he wallowed in self inflicted anguish, a realization dawned upon him like a lightning bolt. Reaching into one of the ammo pockets on his side, he pulled a grey cartridge out. The sheer sight of it was a beauty beyond imaging, so much so that Slayer could have kissed it. Rushing over to the still talking machine, Slayer shoved the cartridge into her chest. “OOF!” Synth exclaimed as she stumbled back a few feet. Slayer, cursing his innate strength, panicked and tried to catch her… well the cassette more than anything. Synth caught herself in time, a vexing look crossing her face as she straightened up. “Jesus man can you not-?” she looked down as the cartridge fell from her breastplate. Sucking in a breath, she snatched it before it fell and hit the ground. “Do you always have to be rough?” She exhaled and handed him back the small container as if it was no big deal.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Slayer shook his head and pointed at her. ‘For you.’ he mouthed. Synth raised an eyebrow, or at least tried to mimic the attempt, and looked down at the thing in her hand with a sudden interest. 

“What is it?” She asked, tilting the thing to and fro as she inspected it. Slayer rolled his eyes and waited for her to do her robot thing and scan the damn thing. “It looks like its uh… oh. OH.” She looked up at him in wonder. “It’s a data core.” Clasping it carefully Synth peered at it and then back at him. “Were you trying to break it?” Slayer threw his hands up into the air in irritation, mostly at himself as his knee jerk reaction for breaking things had nearly costed him dearly. Synth snorted and returned to checking the cartridge for any damage. “I think it’s okay.” flipping it over she probed at the opening with her finger. Halting, Synth looked up at him and then around. “Perhaps here is not a good place to open this.” she murmured, taking note of the several heads which had turned in their direction. Slayer nodded in agreement and watched as she slid the cartridge into a pocket in her right leg.

They both moved forward again, hurrying along the sidewalk to a flat building in the distance that was noticeably separated from the city by a large open field of rocks and strange blue coral plants. “This is the machinery shop.” Synth said as they drew closer, “Here we make and test our weapons.” The building had no windows and appeared to be double layered with metal. A large hangar bay door sat to the north east side of the building which made Slayer wonder what kind of weapon needed that big of a door to be moved. A sense of excitement filled him as they entered the building. Inside the waiting room was small and bleak looking, with pale white walls and only a couple chairs and no reading material. The receptionist who stood behind a glass walled counter seemed just as dull and uninviting as the rest of the place. They looked up from their tablet and narrowed their eyes as soon as they spotted Synth and frowned when they saw Slayer.

“This is a classified area Synth.” came a low droning voice, “Not a playground for you or your pet.” they turned back to their tablet and refused to acknowledge them any further. Slayer seethed with rage at the comment and stepped forward to smash the glass when Synth moved in front of him.

“I don't care what you think Dr’atha. I’m here on my own business and can bring whoever I please.” Synth calmly said. “Now open the door.”

“No. I don't think I will. Z’baun may encourage your little voyages with abandonment, but I do not have to. This is my building to care for and I’ve had enough of your disturbances.” Dr’atha sneered, bearing fangs as he lifted his eyes to once more glare at them. “Now leave.”

Synth stood there, still as a pillar, her fists clenched tightly. Slayer cracked his knuckles which only made the alien hiss in anger. A nearby light flickered momentarily and then a loud ‘click’ was heard. Slayer turned his head to the noise and noticed the door leading into the machinery shop was slowly opening. “Thank you Dr’atha.” Synth smiled venomously and grabbed a hold of Slayer’s wrist as best she could, guiding him alongside her as she moved through the door.

“Yo-YOU. HOW DARE YOU HACK MY COMPUTER YOU- **HORRIBLE MACHINE!** I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT, I WILL NOT-” the door shut behind them with a very satisfying loud  _ clack _ . Slayer stopped at the other side, taking in for a moment what transpired. He chuckled lightly, a low noise which escaped him before he could stop it. Shocked by his own good humor, Slayer snatched his arm away from the android and coughed twice to clear his throat. Synth casted him a solitary glance before tilting her head and throwing a thumb up and over her shoulder. 

“We should go before he weasels his way out of his box.” She said, voice flat and deflated, clearly put off by the alien’s comments.  _ It must have bothered her more than she’s letting on to. _ Slayer tilted his head and stared at her for a long hard moment. Synth shook her head slightly and offered a weak smile. “I’m fine.” she tried to convince him. Slayer was unswayed by her meek attempt, but didn’t have the mind set to delve further into the problem.  _ The mission is homeward bound. No time to play house _ . Walking forward, Synth motioned for him to follow. “Come on, lets go.”

Slayer harrumphed and folded his arms but followed after her.

The silver hallway went on for quite some ways. At regular intervals where doors without windows, each one marked with alien symbols and colored coded. There were green doors with a red circle like symbol on them, then yellow doors with an orange symbol on them, and when Synth finally stopped they stood before a red door with a blue symbol on it.  _ The colors must mean how dangerous these weapons are. _ A wicked grin split across his face as soon as she opened the door. Inside the room was spacious and open with high ceilings and a long shooting range with target dummies at the very end. The walls seemed to be made of double thick metal that proudly wore dents and black scorch marks. The dummies seemed freshly replaced, though Slayer noted that the ground beneath them bore melted patches. To his left sat a gun rack lined with weapons of a varying size and design. Each one looked more dangerous than the previous.

Eager, Slayer moved to them immediately and grabbed the biggest one he could find. “Easy there big guy. Try not to go-” Synth began to say but he immediately tuned her out and focused on his prize. To Slayer’s surprise, the weapon was light as a feather and unlike the gun he had stolen from Z’baun, this weapon seemed to be made for human hands instead of the T'syukios as his human fingers comfortably slid into place. Without hesitation, he lifted the thing up and propped it on his shoulder. Aiming the scope down at the target, he pulled the trigger. The gun hummed to life and with a loud ‘SNAP’ a bolt of energy shot out of it and raced down the room with incredible speed. Shocked by the sudden punch of energy, Slayer stumbled backward slightly.

As soon as the ‘bolt’ touched the target, it hissed and collapsed into itself with a  _ bang _ . The air where the bolt had been shivered and shimmered like a heatwave for a split second before everything around it distorted and was sucked into the collapsing energy field. In the blink of an eye, the dummy disappeared along with a good chunk of the floor with it.

Slayer stood there in awe, gazing at the destruction wrought with almost rapturious glee. Turning to look at Synth, he raised both his eyebrows and grinned diabolically. The machine sighed but offered a weak smile back at him. “I was planning on saving that one for last ya know?” she exhaled in defeat, “The rest will be less… impressive.” Walking over she picked up a small handgun like weapon and turned to shoot. Gesturing with her free hand, a sharp wave downward caused a black portal to open up where the old dummy had stood.

Slayer felt a cold chill go down his spine as  _ memories _ trickled in the back of his mind. A voice in the distance whispered; “It’ll be the future of mankind. A leap which will take us into the depths of space exploration, soldier. So just keep your yap shut and your gun locked….”  _ Teleportation? They’ve mastered that as well?  _ Shaking his head in a desperate attempt to make the voice leave, Slayer looked back up to see that another dummy had taken the place of the old one.

Synth aimed carefully and began to rapid fire. Each bullet hit the chest perfectly, leaving behind burn marks that soon began to spread as it began to melt from the inside out. “Acid bullets.” Synth calmly explained, turning to him she unloaded the gun and showed him the green vial filled bullets. “The more you shoot the more chance you have of it-” The dummy exploded into a rain of stuffing and metal scraps. “To do that…'' Synth rolled her shoulders and shifted weight from foot to foot. Slayer looked over at the assortment of weapons and pointed to a group of grenade looking balls. “Ah, those are genetic bombs.”

‘Genetic...bombs?’ Slayer tested the words in his mouth, carefully feeling out each silent syllable. The machine nodded and made a different gesture, a swift zigg zagg through the air and the portal opened once more. This time the dummy seemed to be covered in a hard bone white exo-skeleton shell. 

“Go on, toss one.” Synth gave him a warm innocent like smile that hid devious thoughts. Slayer grinned back and set the large gun back up on the wall, taking one grenade off the wall he pulled the pin and chucked it as hard as he could. The grenade hit the dummy with a tremendous  _ crack  _ and indented itself within the shell. After a few seconds, it exploded in a burst of pinkish blue electricity. Half of the exoskeleton shattered and fell away, disintegrating into specs of dust. “That one still needs adjustments done to it.” Synth opened up her chest and reached inside, pulling out a screw driver and some other alien like tools, she plucked another grenade off the wall and began to open it up. “I’m still not satisfied with it.” Slayer moved closer and watched as she carefully laid out the innards. 

‘You made this?’ he asked. The machine paid him no heed till he tapped her on the shoulder. 

“Hmm?” she looked over at him curiously. Slayer repeated his question and pointed at the grenade. “Oh, yes. I did. I made all these weapons.” Glancing back at the assortment of armaments that lined the wall, Slayer felt a twinge of respect for their creator. 

A thought struck him and he turned to her: ‘If you made these. Then why won’t they let you in here?’ Synth squinted at him in confusion. Slayer repeated it several times for her to grasp what he was trying to say. He nearly gave up out of frustration before she finally got what he was asking. 

“Just because I make these doesn’t mean I get to test them. My creators want to have their hands in everything I do.” she shrugged “Plus Dr’atha just doesn’t plain like me. Never had, most likely never will.” Slayer harrumphed and folded his arms. “What? You got a problem with someone not liking me?” Synth laughed at that, “You know, not everyones going to like you in life.”

Slayer nearly froze before he caught himself. Frowning, he mouthed: ‘If he gets in the way. I will break him.’

“How very kind of you.” Synth murmured and returned to her project. Slayer swung around and returned to the weapons rack and began to pick his next subject. Making the same hand gesture that Synth made to summon a new test dummy, Slayer smirked and took aim, firing with abandoned delight. 

  
  
  
  


They must have been there for hours before Slayer began to run out of toys to play with. It was when he was one the last two when it happened.

Synth had finished tinkering with her grenade and had set it aside when she pulled out the cartridge from earlier. Curiosity taking hold of her, she tilted it so that she could see the connector port. “Let’s see what we have here.” she whispered. From the tips of her fingers extended a single wire. Twisting slightly, she lined them up with the data core’s and with a click, she inserted it in.

Slayer had grabbed the last weapon when Synth suddenly seized up and blurted out in a male monotone voice: “Hello, I am VEGA, the sentient intelleg-” which caused him to jump in surprise. With a horrid retching noise, Synth snapped her hand back from the cartridge and flung the thing as far away as she could. Dropping his weapon, Slayer grabbed VEGA’s memory core as it skidded next to him. Shoving it into his pocket, he rushed over to the spasming machine. Synth was making dreadful noises and thrashing about like a maddened animal. Reacting fast, Slayer grasped both her arms and pinned them against her chest and then used his weight to hold her down as best he could to keep her from damaging herself further.

It was several minutes before she fell still, eyes glazed over lifelessly. Slayer, worried, unpinned her and gently took hold of her shoulders and shook her frame, trying to get her to wake up. After a moment, Synth let out a gasp and began to sputter: “Oh God, oh God! Get out, get out!” over and over. Slayer slapped her face and shook her harder till her eyes focused on him. She let out a whimpering noise before her eyes widened at him in recognition. A look of fury overtook her and she hissed out: “Jesus fucking christ! You didn’t tell me it was an  **_AI_ ** !” 

‘What?’ Slayer shoved away from her, disgruntled at her accusation.

“You  _ can’t _ mix two artificial intelligences together! It's bad  _ juju! _ ” she howled. Synth’s frame began to shake harshly. “You almost gave me schizophrenia! Only one mind can habit a body!” Shuddering greatly she whimpered out: “I nearly lost myself...” wrapping her arms around herself, Synth curled into the fetal position. Standing there Slayer squared his shoulders and ground the heel of his boot into the floor as his anger spiked.

In the end he kept his silence as did she, neither wanting to talk to the other. 

  
  


When Synth finally uncurled herself, Slayer stared as she slowly climbed back onto her feet. Brushing herself off, she turned to look at him with a weariness that set a feeling of unease within him. 

‘Done?’ he asked bluntly.

“Y-yeah...” she mumbled weakly. “I think it would be best if we head back now.” slowly she moved to the door with a slight limp to her stride. Slayer looked to the wall of weapons and back down the VEGA’s memory core that was back snug in his pocket.  _ What a mess....  _ Sniffing, Slayer wiped the dust off from his visor and let out a long sigh before once more following after the machine. When she opened the door for them, both jolted back as they realized that Z’baun stood on the other side.

“A-ah. There you are.” He purred in relief. “You are very hard to find when you don’t want to be found.”

“I have nowhere to really ‘run off to’ Z’baun.” Synth breathed heavily, eyes half closed as she straightened her posture. “Besides you always find me… eventually.” Slayer noticed that the machine kept her shaking hands behind her as she talked.  _ She looks ready to fall over any moment. _

“Well I suppose that’s true…” Z’baun gripped his chin as he thought deeply. Giving a smile

_ Oblivious fool,  _ Slayer frowned deeply and moved forward. ‘Why are you here?’ he mouthed to the alien.

“Why am I.. here?” Z’baun tilted his head innocent like, black eyes widening. “Why, what else could I be here for? The preparations for your return home have been made.” giving a wide toothy grin, he continued: “Everything is accounted for, as you asked Synth.” Taking a moment to measure their reactions he blinked several times as both stood there in slight confusion. Slayer reveled in the words that came next; “Your ship is ready for departure.”


End file.
